Load of goods comprising a plurality of layers, and a method and a machine for producing said load

ABSTRACT

A load of goods comprising several superposed layers of goods, and a method and a machine for producing said load, said load being enclosed in plastics film and arranged to be lifted by means of a fork truck without being supported on a pallet. For this purpose the bottom layer is narrower than the layers positioned thereabove, whereby spaces are formed at either side of the bottom layer to accommodate the lifting legs of a fork lift truck. The bottom layer is enclosed separately in shrinking film and welded to the film surrounding the remaining goods layers in such a manner that a very strong joint is formed ensuring that the bottom layer of the load does not separate from the superposed layers upon lifting of the entire load by means of a fork truck.

United States Patent [191 Grasvoll [4 1 Dec. 10, 1974 [75] Inventor:Halvor Grasvoll, Goteborg, Sweden [73] Assignees: Gustav MagnussonGilbert, Vastra Frotunda; Karl Ingvar Weiner,

Goteburg, both of, Sweden [22] Filed: Jan. 30, 1973 [21] Appl. No.:328,002

[52] US. Cl 206/386, 206/497, 229/DIG. 12

[51] Int. Cl B65d 75/25 [58] Field of Search 206/60 A, 65 S; 229/DIG. 12

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,489,054 ill/1949 Sprolle206/60 A 3,667,598 6/1972 Zelnick 206/65 S 3,695,426 10/1972Engelsberger 206/65 S 3,788,462 1/1974 Meincer 206/65 S FOREIGN PATENTSOR APPLICATIONS 2,002,061 7/1971 Germany 206/65 S PrimaryExaminerWilliam i. Price Assistant Examiner-Douglas B. Farrow Attorney,Agent, or Firm-Harness, Dickey & Pierce [57] ABSTRACT A load of goodscomprising several superposed layers of goods, and a method and amachine for producing said load, said load being enclosed in plasticsfilm and arranged to be lifted by means of a fork truck without beingsupported on a pallet. For this purpose the bottom layer is narrowerthan the layers positioned thereabove, whereby spaces are formed ateither side of the bottom layer to accommodate the lifting legs of afork lift truck. The bottom layer is enclosed separately in shrinkingfilm and welded to the film surrounding the remaining goods layers insuch a manner that a very strong joint is formed ensuring that thebottom layer of the load does not separate from the superposed layersupon lifting of the entire load by means of a fork truck.

3 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures PATENIEQ DEC 1 01974 SHEEI 10F 6 Fig.

. PATENTED DEC 1 [H974 SHEET 2 OF 6 Pmmm I 3 853.218

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LOAD OF GOODS COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF LAYERS, AND A METHOD AND AMACHINE FOR PRODUCING SAID LOAD BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is knownto use pallet loaders to stack goods in superposed layers. It islikewise known to enclose the entire pallet load, including the palletproper on which the load rests, in shrinking foil. In order to make itpossible to transport a pallet load of this kind by means of a forktruck, the openings in the pallet through which the truck forks are tobe inserted, must remain open and as a result the shrinking foil cannotseal the pallet load hermetically.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has for its purpose toprovide a load enclosed in a shrinking foil in such a manner that thepallet is no longer necessary for transporting the load. More precisely,the invention concerns loads of the kind whereinthe bottom goods layerterminates at a considerable distance from the side edges of the layerof goods positioned immediately above the bottom one such that twolongitudinal spaces are formed there to accommodate the legs of alifting fork, and the film is arranged to extend into these spaces so asto cover those sides thereof which face outwards and downwards. It ischaracteristic of the invention that the bottom layer of goods isenclosed separately in the plastics film and that the film enclosing theupper layer or layers is welded to the film of the bottom layer alongtwo parallel longitudinal sides.

This method of assembling and enclosing the load has proved to be veryvaluable, particularly when the articles making up the load are heavy,consisting for instance of cement bags. Under these circumstances it isimportant to see to it that the bottom goods layer does not separatefrom the remaining layers when the load is lifted by the truck forklegs, as these legs engage in the empty spaces or channels formed in theload and thus do not support the bottom layer of the load directlyduring lifting.

As the bottom layer is narrower than the immediately upper layer ofgoods (as the bottom layer does not extend all the way up to the edgesof the load) and because an identical film web is used to wrap thebottom layer and the rest of the layers. which means that the web offilm used for the bottom layer has the same width as the web of filmused for the rest of the layers, two surplus portions of this film webwill be formed at two opposite ends of the bottom layer. These surplusfilm portions (ends) are bent upwards into contact with the film webextending along the lower face of the second layer in succession and aresecured to this film web. The joint thus provided between the two lower"layers of goods is sufficiently strong to ensure that the bottom layerwill adhere to the rest of the goods layers when the entire load islifted.

A still stronger joint is obtained if the upper plastic film is allowedto hang down in front of the side edges of the bottom layer and thesedependent web lengths of the film attached to the film enclosing thebottom layer.

The invention also concerns a method and a machine for assembling andproducing loads of the kind referred I0.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will be described morein detail in the following with reference to the accompanying drawings,wherein FIG. 1 illustrates in a perspective view six loads wrapped inshrinking plastics film in accordance with the invention and positionedin superposed rows,

FIG. 2 illustrates on a somewhat larger scale one load of this kindduring transport by means of a fork truck,

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the bottom layer of goods enclosed inshrinking film,

FIG. 4 shows in an end view a load being wrapped in film,

FIG. 5 shows the same load at a later stage of the wrapping procedure,

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic side view of a machine in accordance with theinvention for stacking and wrapping goods,

FIG. 7 is a vertical cross section through the machine along lineVII-VII of FIG. 6,

FIG. 8 is a side view of a machine in accordance with a secondembodiment of the invention for wrapping of loads,

FIG. 9 illustrates on an enlarged scale that portion of the machinewhere the hermetic sealing of the load is performed,

FIG. 10 is a vertical cross section through this machine along line X-Xof FIG. 9,

FIG. 11 illustrates the load after film shrinkage, the load having beenturned to correct position for transport by means of a fork truck, and

FIG. 12 illustrates an end view of a load wrapped in accordance with athird modification of the teachings of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The machine illustrated inFIG. 6 for stacking goods in layers numbered 1, 2, 3, one on top of theother, comprises at its top portion a conveyor 4 for feeding goods 5into the machine and a conveyor 6 for discharging the load 7, whencompleted, from the machine. The machine also comprises an elevatorcarriage 8 arranged to move stepwise from an upper position downwards,each step performed by said carriage corresponding to the height of therespective layer of goods 1, 2 and 3. Below the conveyor 4 is arranged afeeder plate 10 which is displaceable in the direction illustrated bydouble arrow 9 'up to the position 10' illustrated in dashand-dot linesin FIG. 6 above the conveyor 6, past a vertically displaceable strippermeans 11. Two supply rolls 13 and 14 holding webs 15 and 16,respectively, of shrinking plastics film are mounted in the machinestand 12. At the left turning point of the feeder plate 10 is positionedthe fixed welding head 17 of a welding unit. this welding headcooperating with a counter head 18 positioned at the forward end of thefeeder plate I0. The counter head 18 serves as a film conveyor means oris provided with a film conveyor for the shrinking film 15 at its freeend. The width of film webs 15, 16 is, as appears from FIG. 7,considerably larger than the width of goods layers 1, 2, and 3, in casethe shrinking film is to enclose the entire load 7. For this purpose themachine is provided at the short sides 19 of its stand 12 with a weldingunit 20 comprising a stationary head 21 and a welding head 22 arrangedto be swung in over the stationary one, which serves as a counter head.

Arrangement of the load 7 and the wrapping thereof in shrinking film iseffected in the following manner with the aid of the machine illustratedin FIGS. 6 and 7. A number of articles are advanced by the conveyor 4 tothe left in accordance with FIG. 6 down onto the feeder plate whichmoves to the left at the same speed. At the same time, the film is fedby the head 18 into contact with the free end of the film 16 in front ofthe fixed head 17 of the welding unit. The film webs 15 and 16 are thuswelded-together and assume a position immediately above the conveyor 6on the elevator carriage 8, the initial position of which corresponds toits uppermost position closely beneath the feeder plate 10 in theposition thereof designated 10'. The stripper means 11 descends tooperative level and prevents the articles 5 from returning together withthe feeder plate 10 when the latter moves back to its original position.The bottom goods layer thus will be positioned centrally on the conveyor6 and rest on the shrinking film webs l5 and 16. The elevator carriage 8will descend one step, whereafter the course of events related abovewill be repeated; this time, however, the machine will handle a largernumber of articles 5 and the stripper means designated 11 will be theone in function. When the bottom layer of goods 1 was being completelyenclosed by the shrinking film, the layer of goods positionedimmediately on top thereof was simultaneously brought to rest on freshlengths of film webs l5, 16. The layers 2 of goods comprising a largernumber of articles 5 and consequently being broader than the bottomlayer 1, rest in a central position on this bottom layer such thatlongitudinal, empty or free spaces 23 will be formed, extending oneither side of the bottom layer 1 below the edge portions of the layer 2positioned immediately above the bottom one. Successive layers 3 ofgoods are advanced into the machine and stacked on layer 2 but thefeeder plate 10 is not moved sufficiently far to the extreme left topermit the welding head 18 to reach up to welding head 17 (see FIG. 6)and consequently no welding together of film webs 15 and 16 occurs. Thelayers 2 and 3 thus are not individually wrapped in film. After depositof the top layer 3 of goods on the stack the elevator carriage 8descends a further step, and thereafter the feeder plate 10 togetherwith the welding head 18 are moved into contact with the welding head 17to weld film webs 15 and 16 together, forming a banderole 24 (FIG. 4) ofsuch a width that two film lengths 25 will hang down, one at either sideof the side edges 26 of the bottom layer and the film banderole 27covering these edges.

The complete load 7 is thereafter transported on the conveyor 6, awayfrom the point of stacking up to the subsequent station of treatment.The latter comprises a frame 28 which may be lowered over the load 7 andwhich is provided with air nozzles 29, having a source of hot air (notillustrated) connected thereto. Above the conveyor 6 on either sidethereof two heating plates 30, heated e.g. by hot air, are arranged,these heating plates 30 being pressed laterally against the bottom layer1 when actuated by piston-and-cylinder units 31, 32 operated bypressurized air.

During their movement towards one another the heating plates 30 forcethe two dependent parts or lengths 25 of the banderole 24 against andinto contact with the banderole 27, whereby these two film portions arelaminated together. The frame 28 is thereafter lowered while at the sametime hot air is sprayed onto the banderole 24 which shrinks and thus ismade to enclose goods layers 2, 3, and 3' tightly.

When completely wrapped, the load 7 may be moved by a fork truck 33(FIG. 2), resting on the truck fork legs 34, which engage in thelongitudinal spaces 23, and the load may thereafter be stacked, forinstance as illustrated in FIG. 1. Owing to the strong adherence between the two film banderoles 24 and 27 as a result of the lamination ofthe dependent lengths 25 of the banderole 24 to the banderole 27, isensured that the packages forming the bottom layer of goods andpositioned in the gap between the fork legs 34, do not separate from thesuperposed layers when the entire load is lifted by the truck fork.

In the wrapping described above the width of the film webs 15 and 16 isimagined to only slightly exceed the length of the load 7. When the filmshrinks, it will keep the various packages together but the load willnot be hermetically sealed. If the shrinking film is to enclose the load7 entirely it is necessary to use considerably wider film webs 15, 16(see FIG. 7) and only in such cases may the welding units 20 be put touse. In FIG. 7 is shown the manner in which the lower portion or length35 of the ends of the banderole 24 rests on the fixed heads 21. Theheads 22 are used to press the ends of the upper portions or lengths 36of the banderole against the lower film portions 35 to permit the twofilm portions to be welded together. Consequently, layers 2, 3 will becompletly enclosed in shrinking film. In the same manner, the ends ofthe film banderole 27 for the bottom goods layer 1 have previously beenwelded together. In the subsequent shrinking process the film will fittightly around the load in the usual manner such that the welding jointswill be only faintly apparent.

Loads may also be wrapped in a different manner and with the aid of amachine which differs from the one described above. A wrapping machineconstructed as appears from FIGS. 8, 9, and 10 may be used to wrap inshrinking film a load 7 from a pallet loader of conventional type, thebottom layer 1 (see FIG. 11) of said load 7 terminating at aconsiderable distance from the side edges of the layers 2, 3 of goodspositioned thereabove. A wrapping machine of this kind comprises threeconveyors 37, 38, and 39 arranged in aligned succession. A portal 40extends above the conveyor 37, the loads 7 being advanced through saidportal in the direction illustrated by arrow 41 (FIG. 8). Above theportal transversely to the direction of advancement is mounted a supplyroll 42 holding shrinking film 43, which is dispensed in such a mannerthat at the feedingout end of the portal it will hang down on eitherside of the load 7. Between the conveyors 37 and 38 is arranged acombined cutter-and-welder device 44 by means of which the dependentside portions or side lengths 45 of the film web 43 are moved intocontact with one another in front of the load and when the latter isadvanced one step these lengths meet also behind the load 7, such thatthe latter will be completely enclosed in shrinking film which thussurrounds the load like a hood. Below the conveyor 38 at the startingend thereof is rotatably mounted a supply roll 46 holding shrinking film47 which is fed onto the conveyor 38 in such a manner that the bottomlayer 1 of the load 7 will rest on this film web. At the starting end ofthe conveyor 38 as also at its terminal end and at its sides, weldingunits are provided each one of which comprises one fixed head 48, 49(FIG. 9) and 50, 51 (FIG. respectively, as well as one movable head 52,53 (FIG. 9) and 54, 55, respectively, these movable heads being arrangedto move in across its associated fixed head. These welding unitsfunction to weld the marginal portion 56 of the dependent side lengths45 of the film hood 57 to the longitudinal portions 58 of the film 47 aswell as to its transverse marginal portions formed after cutting of thefilm web in the transverse direction. As a result, the enclosure of theload 7 will be air-tight. The load thus enclosed will be advancedthrough a shrinking tunnel 59 (FIG. 8) by the conveyor 39, whereby thefilm will be shrunk tightly around the load.

In this case the load 7 is imagined transported through the portal 40and through the shrinking tunnel 59 in a position wherein its narrowestlayer 1 of goods is at the top (see FIG. 10) to eliminate any risk thatthe stack of goods will slide or collapse during transport. When theload 7 has passed through the shrinking tunnel 59 it is turnedupside-down by any convenient turning mechanism known per se to theposition illustrated in FIG. 11 in which it may be engaged by thelifting legs 34 of a fork truck 33. I

In FIG. I2 is illustrated a load 7 the bottom layer 1 of goods of whichis wrapped separately in shrinking film 27 as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and7. On top of this bottom layer, the layers 2, 3, and 3' have beenstacked by means of a pallet loader known per se, without, however,being enclosed in shrinking film. This load 7 is advanced through theportal 40 in accordance with FIG. 8 and enclosed in shrinking film 43 insuch a way that a film hood 57 as illustrated in FIG. 9 is formed. Thedependent marginal portions 56 of the film hood 57 are thereafterpressed by the heating plates 30 into contact with the shrinking film 27surrounding the bottom layer I and laminated thereto. Also this methodprovides a good joint and strong adherence between the film hood 57 andthe film 27, in addition to which the load will be air-tightly enclosedand the amount of shrinking film used minimal.

The machines in accordance with the invention may also comprise means tojoin together by means of welding any such portions of the filmsurrounding the upper layers 2, 3, and 3 as may hang down at the shortends of the load, and the film surrounding the bottom goods layer 1,thus providing a secure joint between these two films also at the shortends of the load.

The embodiments as illustrated and described are to be regarded asexamples only and the goods stacking machines as well as the wrappingmechanisms may be constructively altered in a variety of ways within thescope of the appended claims. The shrinking frame 28 (FIG. 4) may,instead of hot air nozzles 29, have electric heat radiators. Theshrinking frame 28 may also be provided with brushes which upon loweringof the frame over the load 7 sweep over the film banderole 24 andsmoothens it in a downwards direction.

What I claim is:

1. An improved load comprising several superposed layers of goods, aplastics film wrapped around said load, the bottom layer of said loadterminating a considerable distance from the side edges of the layer orlayers of goods positioned immediately thereabove, two longitudinalspaces being formed at either side of said bottom layer to accommodatein said spaces the lifting legs of a fork lift truck, said filmextending into said spaces so as to cover the outwardly and downwardlyfacing sides of said spaces, the improvement comprising a first plasticsfilm arranged to enclose said bottom layer of goods separately, and asecond plastics film arranged to enclose the upper layer or layers ofgoods, said second plastics film welded to the first plastics film atleast along two parallel longitudinal sides.

2. The load claimed in claim 1, comprising said second plastics filmsurrounding the upper layer or layers of goods being so abundantlydimensioned as to hang like a bag at least along two parallel sides ofthe corresponding sides of the bottom layer of goods, said bagshapedportions of said second film secured by welding to said first film atsaid sides.

3. An improved load comprising several superimposed layer of goods, afirst lowermost portion, a first plastic film enclosing said lowermostportion, a second uppermost portion of goods supported upon saidlowermost portion, the side edges of said lowermost portion terminatinga considerable distance inwardly from the side edges of said uppermostportion to define two longitudinal spaces at either side of saidlowermost portion to accommodate the tines of a fork lift truck, and asecond plastic film enclosing said uppermost portion and having at leastparts extending along and affixed to the parts of said first plasticfilm adjacent to said side edges of said lowermost portion for affixingsaid load portions together.

1. An improved load comprising several superposed layers of goods, aplastics film wrapped around said load, the bottom layer of said loadterminating a considerable distance from the side edges of the layer orlayers of goods positioned immediately thereabove, two longitudinalspaces being formed at either side of said bottom layer to accommodatein said spaces the lifting legs of a fork lift truck, said filmextending into said spaces so as to cover the outwardly and downwardlyfacing sides of said spaces, the improvement comprising a first plasticsfilm arranged to enclose said bottom layer of goods separately, and asecond plastics film arranged to enclose the upper layer or layers ofgoods, said second plastics film welded to the first plastics film atleast along two parallel longitudinal sides.
 1. An improved loadcomprising several superposed layers of goods, a plastics film wrappedaround said load, the bottom layer of said load terminating aconsiderable distance from the side edges of the layer or layers ofgoods positioned immediately thereabove, two longitudinal spaces beingformed at either side of said bottom layer to accommodate in said spacesthe lifting legs of a fork lift truck, said film extending into saidspaces so as to cover the outwardly and downwardly facing sides of saidspaces, the improvement comprising a first plastics film arranged toenclose said bottom layer of goods separately, and a second plasticsfilm arranged to enclose the upper layer or layers of goods, said secondplastics film welded to the first plastics film at least along twoparallel longitudinal sides.
 2. The load claimed in claim 1, comprisingsaid second plastics film surrounding the upper layer or layers of goodsbeing so abundantly dimensioned as to hang like a bag at least along twoparallel sides of the corresponding sides of the bottom layer of goods,said bag-shaped portions of said second film secured by welding to saidfirst film at said sides.